Dreams of 9
by migele
Summary: Removing a shadow from eternal darkness is impossible. Visit Hotaru as she lives with her shadow.


Dreams of 9

Disclaimer: Not mine, nope, not at all.

Inspired by: Nightmare on Elm Street and another Film I forgot the title of, they went into dreams there.

Warnings: Where the hell did this come from? Slight shoujo-Ai, rather one sided … VERY one sided. I think…

Timeline: Somewhen after Pharao90

Spoilers: Can't find any, but than again I haven't seen a lot of Sailor Moon.

o.O O.o o.O O.o o.O O.o

Dreams of 9

For Hotaru Tomoe Dreams were different. She had normal dreams, as far as the occasional weird thing or nightmare. But usually it was a new vision, or a new memory from the past.

Being Sailor Saturn, a shy weapon of mass destruction, sucked big time.

This however wasn't the reason Hotaru didn't like going to bed. Removing a shadow from eternal darkness was impossible after all.

o.O O.o o.O O.o o.O O.o

It was with a certain amount of nervousness that Hotaru closed her eyes. Sleep never came easily, for certain reasons.

As her eyes opened again she found herself standing in a park. Green trees, soft grass, flowers in full bloom. The blood red roses with their sweet and heavy scent were her first hint. This was going to be one of those dreams. The problem was, they were always different.

"Over here." A dark, sensual voice called.

Hotaru shivered, definitely one of 'those' dreams. She turned around to see her personal shadow holding a picnic basket and a blanket. "Picnic?"

Mistress 9 smiled. "Would you prefer fighting me?"

Hotaru shook her head. Fighting Mistress 9 in a dream-scape was hazardous, they both had some control over the surroundings and access to a lot of power. Usually the dream-scape didn't survive that. "What did you make?"

"A few sandwiches and some roast turkey. I got ice cream and strawberries for dessert." 9 offered

That didn't sound too bad, Hotaru decided.

"Now sit down and I'll feed you."

OR maybe it was bad.

o.O O.o o.O O.o o.O O.o

Hotaru stared at her homework. Interpretation of a dream. Most of her 'dreams' left no space for interpretations as they were memories or as they featured Mistress 9. Somehow she knew that interpreting her visitor was NOT what she was supposed to do. And she really didn't want to know what went on in the head of her shadow.

Being Hotaru Tomoe, Senshi of Saturn and host of Mistress 9 sucked big time.

o.O O.o o.O O.o o.O O.o

"There you are."

Hotaru whirled around. "Not today! I need a normal dream."

"Why?" Mistress 9 asked. The clearly battle ready shadow hesitated, curious at her host's choice of words.

"My homework, I need a normal dream, that I can actually try to interpret." The small girl pleaded.

The smile Hotaru got back was nothing short of feral. "'Til first blood."

"What?"

Mistress 9 attacked.

o.O O.o o.O O.o o.O O.o

Hotaru woke up much later, blushing madly. "I'm too young for those kind of dreams, dammit." Realizing that she just swore she carefully glanced around before she collapsed onto her pillow. "The one time I get rid of her I dream of the other shy girl in my class. Like it's my fault all the 'men' were scared of me back than." Hotaru turned and stared at the ceiling. "And they fear me yet again."

Slowly the girl rose. After freshening up in the bathroom she looked at herself in the mirror. "Condemned by fate to be a lesbian." This was in no way a pleasant thought for the girl. Back in her room she sat at her desk and started on her homework. Maybe she should try to interpret that picnic with 9 two weeks ago? Omitting of course the part where 9 made her lie down and fed her the strawberries. Yes that might work for her homework.

o.O O.o o.O O.o o.O O.o

The homework had worked out perfectly, though she had gotten a few weird looks for her description of a 'grabby blackhaired date who wouldn't take a no for an answer' and the strawberries. She wondered if she was missing some hidden meaning in those, and that she maybe should have omitted them after all.

o.O O.o o.O O.o o.O O.o

Hotaru sighed. Last night her visitor had attacked, together they destroyed Tokyo, Chicago, New York and evaporated Loch Ness. Hotaru personally blamed Minako for the tentacle monster posing as Nessie, though it never stood a chance against the two girls. Hotaru idly mused if she was super-powered, or was it hyper-powered? She doubted that many people had the power she and her shadow commanded. Even when it came to the Senshi the Queen was the only one who even came close. And she protected the seals on her power by herself.

"Watch where you go." A boy growled as he ran into her.

"Sorry" Hotaru mumbled and wished she could just blast him to bits. Or that she could turn him over to her shadow. She doubted that 9 would have trouble with playing a little with him. Things would be so much easier if she could just let loose, but that would mean to stop caring.

Hotaru wasn't ready to stop caring, yet. Maybe in the future but she still held hope for humanity.

o.O O.o o.O O.o o.O O.o

She remembered. It was a ball on the moon. She who was now called Usagi had been born a year ago. Everyone danced, everyone had fun. Everyone but her. Her black dress was hugging her and rather plain, except that it seemed to radiate darkness. While a great contrast to her pale skin, it seemed to reinforce the fright the people had of her.

So she waited for what would never happen, someone to ask her for a dance. Well one person did. It was a small girl, daughter to one of the palace servants. She had red hair, red as freshly spilled blood. There she was. Hotaru did what she remembered, she accepted and they danced. The twelve year old palace servant and the over a thousand years old angel of death and life. One thing made her smile, the dancers parted around them, granting them the space that all others lacked.

In the future the two of them would meet again, there would even be a small affair between them. Twelve years later, she would be the one to deliver the first child of the union of the dancing girl and her husband, a healthy red haired girl they would name Celcia. This girl would die in the war that was the end of silver millennium. It was her death that made Hotaru unleash part of her true power, the circle of life and death. The only attack that was truly what she was. Pietati et Literis, the beginning of the end.

The dance ended and the girl had to go. Hotaru prepared herself for the rest of the memory, standing and watching the others dance all evening when she came. She had black hair and she was wearing a sunny yellow dress with her face being concealed by a white mask, the dress was straining the limits of what was considered decent at an official occasion like the Moon Ball.

"May I have this dance?" the soft voice asked.

"My lead?" Hotaru asked. It was always hers.

A nod and they started. For hours they danced, these two women, Hotaru did not care that this was not like her memories. It beat standing straight for hours.

At the end of the final dance, she dipped her partner low, only to see the mask fade away, revealing 9 smiling at her before closing the space between their lips. Hotaru did something that she had never done in real life: She dropped her dancing partner.

9 pouted. "Hotaru, play nice."

Hotaru stared at her Shadow. "You were acting nice?" It was more a statement than a question.

"You know when the last time was that I had a decent dance?" 9 got up. "Some two millennia or so ago."

"This was mine, about eleven millennia ago."

"It sucks to be you."

"I know." Hotaru sighed.

"Peace for tonight?" 9 offered a wicked grin on her face.

Hotaru had the feeling that was going to regret this but she nodded anyway.

"Good. As I don't have a room, that means I'll bunk with you."

Hotaru sighed, there was always a catch.

o.O O.o o.O O.o o.O O.o

Live went on, enemies came, enemies went, enemies died.

However, during their battles with their most recent enemy something happened that she could never forgive them.

They had attacked her. They had planned on sacrificing her. They had never hesitated in their actions. That would never do. It would be so easy to wipe them out, just a small wave with her hand at night and it would all be over.

They would pay, not now not soon, but they would. 9 was surprisingly encouraging. Offering hints on what could hurt them the most, but surprisingly it was 9 who discouraged her from destroying the house with the two inside while she and Setsuna were not.

"I like our room." Somehow dying again had bonded the two of them even more. "Make them suffer. Death is swift, but embarrassment and humiliation can last forever."

"So, any idea how we are going to do this?" Hotaru asked her Shadow. This time they were sitting on an asteroid in one of Saturn's rings. The vacuum of space wasn't bothering them at all, what was bothering Hotaru was the fact that 9 was cuddled against her side. "It's cold here," the shadow had explained.

Now they were brainstorming. Neither of them were pranksters or very social, so humiliating someone wasn't something either of them had ever done before.

"We need help, but neither of us knows anyone we could sic on them."

"I know Setsuna is put off by them as well. Maybe the two of us should move out, but they are still our guardians." Hotaru offered.

9 gave her a small squeeze, "But they won't give you up voluntarily, it helps them play mum, dad and cute daughter."

"Living with the weird aunt or granny that no-one talks about."

The two girls shared a giggle.

"But it is a start, and now shoo, you have to get up."

"You are the one lying on top of me."

"I mean you have to wake up."

"Oh."

o.O O.o o.O O.o o.O O.o

Setsuna did help with the prank. It was a bit more malicious then they had originally planned but it worked fine for them. They sacrificed some of their things for it as well, but they didn't care. The time guardian dropped a few hints to the right kind of wrong people and one night when they were all out, with Haruka not going by car since Michiru had a concert and got escorted by limousine, the house got raided.

The next step came soon after, a little covert action by Setsuna and Hotaru and with a generous amount of abusing their powers helped in spiking the drinks at the after concert party. While they kept the two girls from being taken advantage off, they didn't stop them from getting very amorous in a corner.

Much to the horror, amusement and appreciation of the various other guests.

The next morning had the two suffer enough public humiliation to flee the scene. There was no way in hell Michiru was going to sign those pictures from their very public night together.

On arrival at home they saw the police, the chief greeting them with a grin since he had been at the party.

Seeing Haruka cry in anguish over her empty parking lot had been oddly satisfying to the well hidden from sight guardians of Time and Silence.

Using this opportunity the pair moved out as well, while their schedules rarely matched, when they met it was oddly comforting. Hotaru was never alone after all, and Setsuna had always been alone.

Being alone together was something that should be impossible, but their calm interactions were not of companionship, they were of trust. Not friendship but the simple fact that they could never betray each other without betraying themselves.

o.O O.o o.O O.o o.O O.o

Mistress 9 was spooked, this was not a normal dream.

She walked through the shadows that had covered everything, shadows that caressed her, lured her deeper into the darkness. She needed to find Hotaru, and fast.

Using a teleportation spell she was beside the transformed Senshi. The glowing eyes unnerved her even further.

"This is a prophecy, of times to come, of the shadows to come."

The Earth was shrouded in darkness, here on the highest mountain on earth she could see and feel the darkness creep and move below them.

However several strands were wrapped around the sitting Senshi's left hand, and the transformed girl was playing with them.

"The time of change will come,

"to pull the world into darkness,

"it's path is yet to be decided

"if it will be a warm darkness,

"or the all ending darkness."

The Senshi rose to her feet, the shadows releasing her and forming a circle on the ground around the two females.

"The Lord of Nightmares is coming for us, and I for one will not warm them.

"He will see and he will choose, and we will be the only ones to know.

"The times of change are upon us."

9 watched the shadows dancing around them, and she was afraid. This Darkness knew death. It knew pain and understood torture. Unlike her host she wanted to warn the others, she had grown used to living like she was currently.

Unlike Sailor Saturn, she would not simply accept the darkness trying to consume her, to lure her once again onto the dark paths of destruction that she had followed under her last Master.

Authors Notes v0.0: This was created during work. The longest I took for a sentence there was five breaks.

Author Notes v0.1: added scene at the end, some cosmetics in between. Wanted to make another change, but forgot what it was. It has been long ago that I last touched this fic. Special thanks to gsteemso and Alathon

Words: 1588

Authors Notes v0.2: Added the prank and a small prophecy. I think this is good to go.

Words: 1979

Authors Notes v0.3: Changed prank and prophecy scenes after feedback from Wyrd. Lots of smoothing and grammar corrections as well, most of them done by him as well.

Special thanks to: Wyrd

Words: 2259


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